Other sources speaking to Reuters said that Japanese companies are hopeful that the deteriorating relationship between Apple and Samsung will result in more contracts for them. Elpida Memory and Toshiba in particular are eager to win chip-making contracts, since Samsung has handled the foundry side of Apple’s A4 and A5 processor business, which are central components of the iPhone 4 and iPad 2, respectively.

The renewed interest in Sharp was highlighted by MF Global FXA Securities in a note by analyst David Rubenstein on Wednesday. In the note, Rubenstein said it was “highly possible that Apple will make an investment in Sharp’s Kameyama plant to the tune of around $1 billion in order to secure a stable supply of screens for iPhones and iPads.” Sharp also announced in June that it would be changing the purpose of one of its TV plants to concentrate on making small and medium-sized LCD panels for smartphones and tablet devices.